Level Up: Dante and Angie's First Date Parts 1 & 2
by BlackDeath1000
Summary: I'm Back! And so are Dante and Angie. While I may have cancelled the first story, this one is sure to be a doozy. Let's see if opposites really attract or while Dante's animosity towards Angie's less than honest ways get the better of him? P.S. for anyone who wants Level Up back, I guess you should start a petition or something. XD
1. Chapter 1

_**Level Up: Dante and Angie's First Date**_

"Oh, crap! Oh, crap! Oh, crap!" Dante sputtered as he paced around in frantic circles within the confines of his extraordinarily grubby room.

Lyle didn't even bother to sit down or even cross the threshold into Dante's hellhole. Why Angie _ever_ agreed to go out with him was beyond the Hugginson. "Dude, how did you ever score a date with Angie. I mean, no offense but she's smart, strong, and pretty. She's out of your league." Lyle said bluntly. He and Dante had this bond to where they could be perfectly frank with one another with taking offense.

However, in Dante's defense, he did clean himself quite a bit this past year. From getting his teeth straightened to doing cross fit and mixed martial arts to get a more toned body and match Angie's Krav Maga skills. He even started to _groom_ himself and take showers. _That_ was amazing. So, maybe Lyle was staying in the past a bit too much. What really shocked him was Dante's ability to understand and apply Cal Newport's _How to Become a Straight-A Student_, so well.

…Great, now he owed him an apology for downing him once he actually thought about it. "Look man, I'm sorry I said it that way."

Dante didn't hear a word Lyle said, he was to busy looking up good conversation topics for first dates. "Hey, what about this: _What are you best at?_." He asked his main buddy. Lyle was the best at handling women. So of course he was the first person Dante would call to help with some lady advice. Strangely, enough though, he didn't want to "_handle_" Angie. He wanted to get to know her better. Outside of their insane adventures they didn't really have a strong connection a year ago. Not like she did with Wyatt, anyway.

_Don't think about that._

How could he not? Wyatt and Angie had a strong relationship that had always made Dante suspicious that they where dating. Even back then, he wasn't that big of an idiot to miss obvious signs of a couple. He even felt a bit betrayed when he stupidly asked Wyatt to talk to her for him and their relationship had only gotten stronger and didn't even spare him the dignity of being a third wheel. Only a lost and slightly hurt outsider.

_Now that's a conversation topic. _

"Never mind dude, I got one." Dante said with a determined and faintly reprisal gaze in his hazel eyes.

Lyle stood dumfounded. He just ran off twenty seven awesome tips on how to pull off a successful first date right off the top of his head and Dante wasn't even paying attention. Normally, he would be a little upset. However, the Hugginson knew when he saw the slight sparkle in another brother's eyes when he was about to get his first date with his crush. But, there was another look in Dante's eyes that did not seem so benevolent. Then again, Dante may have changed, but he was no Lyle Hugginson. He couldn't be good at _everything_. So he would take his unfortunate friend as he was and give him a ride to Baer's superstar diner.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Level Up: Dante and Angie's First Date**_

"Okay, Wyatt, how do I look?" Angie asked as she adjusted her décolleté and formfitting black dress. She wore her trademark golden bracelet on her left wrist and perfectly applied the make up she normally wore to formal occasions. Although it was a date with Dante, she could at least treat the event with respect.

Wyatt was as wide eyed as a lost puppy trying to sucker someone into taking him home. "Wow, Angie. You look great!" Wyatt said as awkwardly as only he could as he gave her an ecstatic thumbs up. "Dante will not be able to resist you. "

Normally she would dress in the opposite fashion direction if she heard anyone say that. But Dante has for all intents and purposes 'arrived' to the level of humanity. He leveled up tremendously. Angie sat back down on her small sofa as she contemplated where this sudden surge of charisma Dante possessed came from. It was like he transformed from Forest Gump to Leonardo DiCaprio. Okay, maybe not on _that _level, but he was getting there.

"I just hope I'm not wrong about this. I mean I'm going out with _Dante_; and all because of a stupid bet I made with you and Natalie." Angie explained as she held her hands in both of her palms, near grieving the upcoming date.

Wyatt scoffed. While he and Dante where friends he didn't hesitate to throw him under the buss. The Buss of Love that is. Dante and Angie where perfect together. Ever since Dante had asked him to talk to Angie for him because he was far too nervous to ask himself, Wyatt had been talking him up to Angie. Initially she wasn't buying it until he finally made a gamble that she would go out with Dante in exchange for some Physics tutoring. As for Natalie, well, she just made a wager that Angie couldn't go through an entire night with "her man" like she had done in the past. He did not even want to think about what that implied.

"I'm sure it'll go awesome. You're going to have a blast. With your new _boyfriend._" Wyatt teased.

Angie nearly shot out of dress at that statement. She shot a pointed finger at Wyatt. "First of all, he's _not_ my boyfriend. I don't know what he is but I know what he's not. And. He. Is. _Not_. My boyfriend."

"Whatever you say Angie. Now come on you're going to be late for your date." Wyatt rhymed.

"You're a horrible rapper." Angie shot back as she brushed pass him while grabbing her purse and going downstairs.

"Ah, but you acknowledge me as a rapper." Wyatt said confidently.


	3. Chapter 3

**Angie **awaited her eccentric compatriot at the Baer's Superstar Diner. He has both her harms and legs crossed as she waited impatiently for Dante to rear his annoying head. "_Of course; being on time is the only thing Dante didn't Level Up in." _Angie thought to herself as she let out a howl of annoyance and frustration.

He lanky best friend, Wyatt, approached her at the table she usually waited on. "Oh, come on, Ang. I'm sure he'll be here any minute. Besides, it is _Dante_ after all. Etiquette was never really his strong suit." Wyatt rationalized in a way that turned down the tempo of Angie's anger a bit.

Wyatt was right. Dante may have gained a new swagger, but he was still a bit…."Danteish".

Finally, the chime that signaled an entrance the Diner ringed through Angie as a sign that this night was about to begin. And end. She rose to meet her date over enthusiastically. He voice dripped with sarcasm. "Dante! I'm so glad you're on time for our date! You must have really taken this night into consideration!"

Dante was _so _not in the mood for Angie's bullshit. After nearly an entire year of them knowing each other she decides to ask him out? What game were she and Wyatt playing with him? Did Lyle know about it? How stupid they think he was to play around with him like this!?

Dante struck back with his own dead shot sarcasm. "Yes, I have taken this night into some consideration. I was busy considering how such a nice, caring, and _completely honest _woman like you could _ever_ be stood up. I mean, Leroy and Philbert must have been complete and utter idiots to stand a catch 22 like you up, huh?"

Angie almost took a step back, however she stopped herself. The combination of shock and pain shot her in the stomach like a well-aimed arrow. Why was Dante brining all this up? Because of her sly remarks? She always did that! Why was he taking it so personally now?

Her voice, no an entire octave lower was saturated in anger and resentment. "What the hell does that mean?" She growled low as she began to clench her fist so tightly that her knuckles began to turn white. Dante was about to get knocked the fuck out if he didn't watch it.

Dante leaned in to where their noses were practically touching. This was only edging Angie on to land her fist into Dante's mouth. "What's the matter pumpkin?"

Before she knew what she was doing, Angie punched Dante square in the mouth. The crack she heard pleased her greatly. Until she figured out it was her middle finger that had popped. However, Dante was still rubbing his jaw in agony. That numbed the physical pain. But the emotional pain was still deep within her psyche.

Lyle rushed in between them like a lineman defending his quarterback. Ironic really. Wyatt put her in a full nelson and hauled her away from Dante. "What the hell was that about?!" Lyle shrieked at the both of them, trying to sort through this whole debacle.

Wyatt added his two cents to the situation. "Yeah, I-I'd like to know to!" He stammered, not sure of how to absorb the scene.

Dante ignored the pain that was coursing through his jaw. You should know. After all, this is apart of your sick little game, isn't it." Dante remarked a very unusual and remorseful tone in his voice as he stepped around Lyle who still had his hand blocking Dante from coming into breathing space with Angie.

Angie was the one to speak up since Wyatt, finally, couldn't find any words to argue with. "What are you-" She was cut off by a tremor that knocked all four of them to the butts and backs. It was a good thing everyone was either at home or at an even more expensive place on this Friday night. Or else they would have been trampled. Unless they wanted to tune in to the spectacle herself and Dante where putting on.

A monstrous roar filled their earlobes with a vintage and unmistakable rhythmic sequence.

"Oh, crap." Dante and Lyle remarked in incredible unison. "It's a Leak."


	4. Part 2: Chapter 2

_"The second chapter in Part 2 will be uploaded on BlackDeath1000's page. Just a curse for having two separate computers. Anyway, enjoy!"_

"Well, that's the only logical situation..." Wyatt murmured under his breath. Wyatt's thumb was moving speedily as he texted Max. "I wonder where those neurons could be at." He exclaimed frustratingly.

Dante scooted up to place his chin on Wyatt's headrest. "Maybe, they're actually having fun. You know, not getting hunted down by Leaks who disappear for no apparent reason." There was really no anxiousness or excitement in Dante's voice which was as shocking as it was refreshing. Even to him.

"How can YOU of ALL people be so calm?! Maldark could be coming back for all we know, or worse!" Wyatt exploded, looking upwards towards the teen that was really beginning to piss him off.

Dante slouched back on the back seat and crossed his hands behind his head. "And we'll just bard his ass and send him back to the game. Again." Come on guys, you're not seriously telling me that you're worried about all this? Like weird stuff doesn't happen to us like all the time."

Angie had to admit, Dante did have a point. Crap like this shouldn't really startle them like this. Maybe that year off took away their edge? Whatever it was, she wouldn't let it scare her. Nothing would scare her, especially not beings from a virtual reality that took a turn for the worst.

Lyle slammed on the breaks and the inertia hurled all of them forward. Angie bumped her head on Lyle's head rest and was immediately slammed back into her seat. Dante, who started to nod off after making his little speech came awake with a start. "What the hell, man!? I was just starting to have a really epic dream about-" He began to say Angie, but, considering all that happened between them...it would probably be best if he kept his mouth shut. At least until all this crap was sorted through. So, he went with something that everyone except Lyle would believe. "Pickles."

Wyatt was unresponsive and Angie just rolled her eyes. Lyle gave him a suspicious glare from the "inside" rear view mirror. Dante put his index finger to his lips as a sign for Lyle to hold his peace for now.

"Anyway, what was with the sudden stop?" Angie asked angrily as she began to pinch her nose.

Lyle pointed towards their HQ. The door was kicked down and all the windows where busted. Wyatt jumped out the car and ran fro their little hideout. Lyle soon followed. "Guys, stay here." Dante gave a wide eyed look to his friend who only smiled in response. "Asshole" Dante thought to himself.

Angie was completely oblivious to what that snide smirk on Lyle's face was. She turned to Dante and began to ask him. Until she saw an uncharacteristic look in his eyes. Dark and solemn. "Hey, what's with you?" She asked cautiously, not knowing what to expect from this Dante.

Dante didn't know what to say. He could confront her about Wyatt and the little game they where playing. Or, he could just say nothing was wrong and consider another girl for a girlfriend. Maybe Ginger was available. the girl was a little di, but who was he to judge? He was never fully lit himself. Besides, the girl was sweet and honest. Virtues he didn't know Angie possessed or not.

Angie begun to snap her fingers in Dante's face, trying to get his attention. Lyle's smile probably referred to their confrontation at the bar. "Hey, earth to Dante."

Dante finally snapped back into reality as Angie's incorrigible snapping made him come awake.

"What?!" He finally snapped as he moved her hand from his face. Man her skin was soft. Great, now he sounded like a hero from one of those sappy romance novels that Angie liked. Those guys could never-Damn it! He was spacing out again.

"Really, that's all you have to say?" Angie asked with a dull stare in her eyes.

"What exactly where you expecting?"

"Uh, I don't know-an apology" Angie stated with a stern tone in her voice.

"An apology?! You should be apologizing to me for stringing me along like that." Dante exclaimed in mild outrage as he folded his arms across his chest.

What was he talking about? Did he know about the bet she made with Natalie?

"I wasn't stringing you along. I was trying to prove to Natalie that you're weren't vile and disgusting like everyone thought. At least, not anymore."

Natalie? Who said anything about Natalie? Dante thought to himself in frustrating confusion. "Okay, now what are you talking about? I'm on the subject where you and Wyatt never told me that you two where in a relationship but played me like I had any chance with you for shits and giggles. That's what I'm talking about."

Her? Wyatt? Hell no! Didn't this neuron know that Wyatt was into Natalie? Even if he wasn't, there could never be anything between them. He was like a brother to her. A non-hyper competent brother, but a brother nonetheless.

"Okay, Dante. Look, I never meant for this to happen. It's all just a big misunderstanding. I-" She was cut off by a high pitched girlish scream. She could have sworn it was Wyatt, but to her shock, it was Ginger!

"What's she doing here?" Dante asked himself. He would worry about Angie's bullcrap excuses later. Now he had to see where the scream came from. From the sound of it, it was coming from inside the HQ.

He ran inside and was taken aback by what he saw. It was totally trashed. Their computers where thrashed, furniture was turned over, the walking robot had been smashed into pieces. Everything was astronomically destroyed. He ran towards the stairs towards the upper level where the screaming was highest.

There he found her. Scared out of her mind. Wyatt was trying to placate her while Lyle was working through the Booty Box to find something called a "Fear Absorber". Apparently, someone place a fear spell on her and dropped her off here. Why?

Once Ginger begun to calm down a small percent, she allowed Lyle to put the bracelet on her wrist. It would absorb all of her fear and leave her stupidly courageous. She begun to catch her breath.

"Dante, " Wyatt said, "Help her get a hold of herself. Me and Lyle are going to see if we can trace anything that will lead us to some answers."

Dante nodded in approval as Wyatt ran towards Lyle to begin investigating.

Dante eased towards Ginger. Her head was in her hands as she rested her arms on her knees. "What's going on? Where am I?"

"You're in Steve Schmitt's place. He's away on a business trip and left men in charge of the warehouse." Okay, that was a complete lie. Well, maybe not a complete lie. It would do for now, at least. Ginger wasn't anything like Angie. Where Angie would jump at the chance to partake in this life, Ginger could really do without it. He didn't even know if she had the same combat experience as Angie did. What with her Krav Maga and all.

"Oh, well how'd I end up here? Last thing I remember was being...teleported I guess to this place. And then I just woke up with this intense fear and just started screaming when I came to."

Teleported? He'd never heard or saw anything like that happen before. The closest thing to that was when Leaks came to this side of reality. How was she teleported on this side? Finally it came to him: Hideo. That was the only other option. It had to be him!

Ginger stood up groggily, she stumbled when Dante caught her. She held him close. "Hey, I know this may seem a bit stupid of me to ask, but are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah," She responded. "Just needed something to hold on to."

He could understand that. When he was dragged into all this crap, he felt like running away like the selfish bastard he was. Always mouthing off to his mom; never really appreciating what she did and was still doing for him. He held her in his arms tenderly. Unlike Angie, he didn't feel like the scum on the bottom of a pig's foot when he was around Ginger. He felt like he mattered. Like he didn't have to change himself into someone else to get a passing glance.

Don't get him wrong, there was nothing wrong with coming up. He managed to keep who he was and become more human in the process. He decided to face himself and tear down the walls that he had built within himself. To uncover what was at the root of his resolve to never be understood. Hypocritical huh? He didn't want to be vulnerable, but he wanted to be accepted by someone. I guess C.S. Lewis had it right all along: 'To love at all is to be vulnerable.' He thought to himself. He was always a fan of the Christian writings of ol' Lewis.

Dante inhaled through his nostrils a bit and got a whiff of Ginger's sweet scent. Cotton Candy perfume. She shifted in his grasp. Her perfect body nestled up against his and made him incredibly hot. "Dante.." She moaned against his ear, which didn't help his body cease in tis rebellion against his better mind.

"Uh, yeah?" He answered.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

He pulled himself away to look directly into her brown eyes. "For what? Ginger, you never did anything to me." He said. Now that was true.

"I know. I never ever said or did anything for or to you. That's why I'm sorry."

"I don't get it."

She tried to look down, but he tilted her chin so that she could meet his gaze. "What's wrong? You know, other than everything." He said, trying to find some humor in all of this.

It succeeded in getting a light chuckle out of the blond."It's just that, ever since we where in the eight grade I always sorta liked you. Like like liked you. But, I never could get myself to admit it. When I saw all the crazy stuff you pulled on a daily basis and saw how everyone treated you, I...I don't know why I didn't reach out and tell you how I really felt about you." She confessed a light blush appearing across her face.

Dante was shocked. He never expected to hear this from Ginger. "Ginger..."

Before he knew what hit him, she closed the space in between their lips and gave him the hottest kiss he'd ever known. One that set every hormone in his body on fire and sent him reeling. The combination of her soft lips, incredible scent and smooth body sent him into overdrive. He couldn't' bring himself to even think about Angie as he kissed her back with a hunger that had never been awakened before now. She darted her tongue into his mouth, begging for a battle that he was more than happy to give to her.

He pulled her closer to him, dying to feel her embrace. Her selfless and honest embrace.

She pulled back to look over his shoulder. "What? What is it?" He looked behind him to see Angie. Her expression was unreadable, but her actions where. She darted towards Wyatt and kissed him. She then glared at Dante and left out of the room.

Needless to say, everyone was speechless.


	5. Part 2: Chapter 3

"What…what was all of that about?" Wyatt asked, dumfounded by Angie's abrupt actions.

Lyle was equally confused. That is, until he saw how Ginger was holding on to Dante and vice versa. "Oh, dude!" Lyle exclaimed. He basically flew up the stairs and snatched Dante from Ginger's grasp. He hauled him outside and towards his car. Angie was nowhere to be seen.

"Dude, what the hell was that all about?! I know you and Angie hit a rough patch but that doesn't give you the right to kiss any girl you want!" Lyle couldn't believe those words flew out of his mouth. He usually never was against kissing any girl you wanted to. But this time it was different.

Dante held up his hands in defense. "Wait a minute, dude. Let me explain."

It took Dante fifteen whole minutes to explain to Lyle everything that's happened. His explanation was only met with an enraged and comically confused glower from his best friend.

"Wh-What?! Why?! Why would you ask WYATT to talk to ANY girl for you? You know? The only girl he ever looked at without fainting was Alexis. You could have asked me. No, wait, no. My old man told me _**never**_ let another man talk for you to the girl _you're _interested in. That's a big no-no and your first mistake. If you really wanted to step to her, you should have done it like a man." Lyle lectured as he place his hands in his pockets.

Man, Lyle was right. Had he just talked to Angie face to face and told her how he felt, this could have all been avoided. Instead, he bitched out and told another man to tell a woman how he felt. That was so unbelievably stupid it reeked of the old unenhanced Dante.

He sat back on Lyle's hood in excruciating embarrassment. Had he only had a little courage. A tiny bit of balls-

_Like Ginger?_

That snapped him back. "Oh, crap Ginger!"

Lyle arched a brow at him. "Yeah, I'll be expecting answers about that when we find out who did this. At least then we'll have a lead."

Dante gave his friend his theory. "Hey, I think Hideo did it."

Lyle looked back at Dante. Hideo? Hideo! How come they had never thought of that before?

"Yeah, that's a reasonable lead. But we may have to get all the clues together tomorrow. It's getting really late and I don't want to worry my parents too much." Lyle explained.

Dante could agree. He had screwed his mom's life up long enough with his douchebaggish selfishness. Time was up for that.

"Yeah, but what are we gonna do about Ginger?"

"What do you think? We take her home." Lyle said.

Dante didn't know about that. If she was kidnapped once, it stood to reason that if we drop her off at the exact same place then something even worse would happen.

"Maybe she should stay with me. I don't know what we're going to tell her parents though."

A few expressions flashed across Lyle's face. One expression said "Really? You're really going to do that now?" They softened as time went by, but…

"Are you sure?" He finally asked. "You know, Angie might not be so happy about that."

"Yeah, besides if anything happened to Ginger when I could have stopped it I might never forgive myself."

"Okay, what are going to tell her parents?"

"_I would worry about what someone's going to tell YOUR parents when thy art found dead in a gutter!" _A demonic growl resonated through Lyle and Dante as their hearts dropped simultaneously.

Dante swung around and Lyle backed away so that he could get a better position on the intruder.

But it was all for nothing as everything had gone black.

_Stop crying! Darn you, Angie! Stop CRYING!_

It didn't avail too much. No matter how much resolve she tried to stir, not matter how much she yelled at herself to stop _freaking_ crying. She just couldn't. The sight of Dante and Ginger together…it just _did _something to her. Was it her fault? Had she drove him to someone else?

_Why do you even care? It's Dante. Impulsive and eccentric Dante. You only agreed to go on a date with him because of a stupid bet you made with Natalie. So why do you give to dead flies smashed? It's not like there's going to be anything long lasting between you two in the long run. All you're doing by hurting over this is inviting even more heart break. You should have never even given that fool a second glance beyond friendship. Tentative friendship at that. _Her conscience wailed on her, belittling her for getting into this mess in the first place.

"It is all my fault, isn't?" She whispered to herself. She pushed herself up from her bed, now changed into a purple pajama pants suit. She punched her tear stained pillow out of hatred for the weakness she'd discovered in herself. The weakness Dante created in her.

Joaquin knocked at her door before coming in. His expression was a mix of worry and anger. "Hey, how you doing?" He asked his voice lower and huskier than normal. His blue V neck shirt and jeans where highlighted from the sun hitting him.

She could tell he was trying to keep his anger in check. After she had blurted out to him all that happened, he had volunteered to hunt down both the Leak and Dante. She wasn't the only one who knew Krav Maga.

She wiped away her tears and gave him a weak smile as she rose from bed. "I'm fine; did you get any leads to the Leak?" She asked.

"No, not yet." He sighed as he rubbed the back of his head with his left hand. "That thing's really sneaky. I don't have a clue what it could be because it doesn't leave any sort of clues behind. It's like it doesn't exist."

Well, that wasn't good. "Maybe I should help." She volunteered.

"No, you would only get yourself hurt. With all that's happening between you and _Dante._" He spat out that last word. "How could you ever fall for that asshole anyway?"

Angie was aghast that Joaquin was losing his cool like this."Joaquin!" She exclaimed, shocked at his now vulgar language.

He crossed his arms over his chest, showing no remorse for letting the swear word slip. "Just so you know, I'm not sorry. I _am _going to Bard that Leak; and then I'm going to kick the living _shit_ out of Dante. _Nobody _makes my sister cry. NOBODY." He proclaimed.

Angie started to feel the water works coming again as she wrapped her arms around herself. Her brother's unshakable determination to protect her was something she'd only seen before when he found out she was stood up by Leroy. Her brother had two extremes: He could either be an unknowingly Show-Off jerk face, or her beloved little brother who would read her diary to see how he could protect her. It was as touching as it was infuriating.

"That really means a lot to me, Joaquin. Thank you." She said. Then, he did the most unpredictable thing of all. He closed the space between them and wrapped his arms around her. She was bewildered. Her brother had never hugged her before. Well, not since he was a baby. Cherishing this rare moment, she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him in return. This did so much in easing the pain she felt.

He backed away to look at her while still keeping his arms around her. "You really gotta tell me how all this came about, but right now I have a surprise for you. Come on." Taking her hand, he led her down stairs to the living room.

Then, he let her go and walked towards the front door.

"What is it?" She asked, tugging her hands into her pockets.

"You'll have to wait and see." He said as he opened the door.

Who could this…beeee? Her eyes widened again for the second time as she saw the last person she would expect.

Michael Ragas.

* * *

_A slightly shorter chapter. I'm trying to keep the word count in the late 1,000s to 2,000s. :D_


	6. Part 2: Chapter 4

Michael Ragas. His slender and athletic body hidden between a V neck and black skinny jeans with white converse on his feet. He was quite the sight to see; not only for nostalgia purposes considering he was her first boyfriend, but also because he was still freaking hot.

However, that his handsome features and noticeably ripped body weren't what attracted her to him. It was his warm personality that stemmed from his Christian theology. He was one of the select few who actually believed that mercy outreached judgment. Warm, funny, and kind hearted, he was one of the few boys she really had feelings for.

"Michael," She breathed, finally releasing her breath that she had been holding for five minutes. "It's been…crap, how long has it been?" She couldn't even remember. So many questions where flying through her mind at his sudden appearance here. Where had he come from? What's been happening in his life since they broke up? How did he even get here?

Somehow, she strangely felt that all those questions would be answered at the appointed time. Right now she wouldn't worry about that. It was time to spend some time with of the only true friends she had ever known.

Michael chuckled at her lightheartedly; not mocking her, but just the same way he'd always laughed with her. "It's been two years pumpkin. Now what say we catch up on old times?" He closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her in a very warm embrace. One that was free and devoid of any deception or hidden agendas. Just pure charity.

All she could whisper was..."Lets."

* * *

Joaquin was completely cut out of the equation when those two locked eyes. He knew it would turn out like that; it was two years since the two saw each other, and while Joaquin had never met Michael, he knew there was no disrespect meant when he didn't mention him. With all the turmoil surrounding his sister and the Never Fail clan (some of that turmoil _he _would summon) his Krav Maga training allowed him to slim down to the point where he looked like Maika Maile from There for Tomorrow, although he was also in top form, so he looked a lot more muscular.

Needless to say, he was a little confident in his ability to beat the crap out of Dante. He couldn't care less about any martial arts training he might have had. Krav Maga wasn't for sport, it was for winning. Something his body was well trained for.

Being fourteen, he wasn't really allowed to drive yet. That didn't mean he couldn't hop on his skate board and ride a bit to clear his head and try to solve this little Leak mystery.

According to Angie, the Leak was first seen at Baer's the other night during her and he who will not be mentioned's date. Then, it just disappeared? That was weird, even for something that "normally" happened to them. He rode all the way to Baer's Superstar Diner where the whole shebang occurred. He took out his specialty made Leak-essence sensor that he and Wyatt created to search for any traces of what the Leak may have left behind. Wyatt hacked his IPhone to add the useful mechanic to the phone as an "App" to avoid any suspicion. It begins to vibrate when it sensed any traces of Leak. The closer one got to the essence, the more violent the phone would vibrate.

He walked around the eatery towards the parking lot where they saw the creature. Sure enough, the thing started going crazy. Joaquin carefully looked around his surroundings so he wouldn't be taken by surprise. He was so "careful", that he had stepped on a piece of sharp metal that pierced through his shoes and pricked his foot. Startled, but not shaken by the sudden sensation, Joaquin lifted his left leg where the shard was pricking to pick it out of his shoe.

As he held it next to the radar, he was nearly overwhelmed with the exceedingly violent vibrations that the phone gave off. "_Well, there's no doubt that this is something valuable." _Joaquin thought to himself.

He examined the now relevant piece of metal for any indication of what it might be or from whom it came from. His eyes widened in shock as he recognized the name on the metal.

The silver shard bared a strikingly similar and familiar name to it: _Ragas_. '_Property of Sarah Ragas.'_

"Oh shit." Joaquin swore to himself.

* * *

Dante awoke in a dark room. He literally could not see anything; to the point where it had not been aware of his own conscience state he would have wondered if he was even awake.

"Lyle," He hissed. "Hey, Lyle! Wake up man!"

Lyle shushed him. "Dude, we don't know where we are right now and your first instinct is to yell?!" He scream-whispered.

Oh, yeah. Guess that impulsive disorder hadn't completely left him yet. "Oh, yeah. Sorry."

The lights were turned to an excruciating brightness as they were flicked on. When he was able to see again, Dante was shocked to see that they were back in their Beta House, their HQ. What was more shocking was that it was spick and span. Not a dent, scratch or any evidence of the hell hole they had just left.

"What the? What happened to our HQ?" Dante wondered, his eyes still trying to readjust to the heavy brightness as he was trying to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

Once adjusted, Dante's eyes were able to take in the full view of his surroundings. This was just too weird. The was absolutely no sign of any sort of struggle. Everything looked normal and what was worst, was that there was no sign of Ginger.

No he was getting worried. And pissed. "Hey jack ass! Where's our friend?!" Dante roared out with a renewed ferocity.

Lyle really should be telling Dante to shut up right now. But, in the end? Would it really matter? He didn't think so. So, he would do the most logical thing right now. "Yeah, jerk face! Where's our friend?"

Dante looked over to Lyle with a confused look on his face. Lyle glared back at him. "What? Did you think I would let you go in alone? Look, man if we go down, we go down together." Lyle proclaimed.

Touched by his friend's willingness to die with him, Dante smiled and simply said: "Tultamaneli."

Soon, the boys would hear a slithering as their adversary would come into their full view from the left. Dante and Lyle were flabbergasted when they saw the one who kidnapped them.

* * *

Angie was enjoying some vanilla FroYo at Baer's with her pal Michael as they were catching up on old times. Now dressed in all-black attire consisting of black jacket, V neck shirt, skinny jeans and boots, some could say her choice of where reflected her attitude. Even though she normally preferred darker colors.

Michael was just telling her about how he had met his girlfriend Casey Woods, who was the head cheerleader at Saint Richards' High. His talk about his own love life sparked a few pictures of Dante in her mind. That jerkface Dante, talking to her like that. What's worse is that she had no idea what he was talking about unless he knew about the bet she made with Natalie. A bet that was in _his _favor. She wouldn't think about that right now or the really stupid and out of character thing she did with Wyatt.

She pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyed agony. Her embarrassment was met by Michael's placating hand. "Hey, are you alright?" He asked in his concerning manner.

"Yeah, just something stupid I just did came to mind." She said back, giving him a gentle smile.

"Oh, come on. It couldn't be that bad." Michael said back. Well, she guessed there was no reason to beat around the bush with him. He was her best friend after all.

"Okay, see this is what happened. I made a bet with my arch enemy Natalie that one of my other friends who I'm kinda interested in wasn't as gross and revolting as everyone thought he was anymore, then somehow that friend thought I was seeing someone else behind his back and was only teasing him. Then, on our first date here we got into a confrontation over it and I punched him in the nose when he mouthed off to me. After that, I apparently pushed him into the arms of another woman because I saw him kissing a girl from my school and then I kissed the guy he already thought I was seeing and walked away from him." Angie sighed as she tried to catch her breath from telling Michael the entire story in a speeding manner.

Michael was wide eyed and shocked. "Angie, that's not like you." He said, borderline lecturing.

"I know," She huffed, slumping downwards in her chair. Wait, it really _wasn't _like her. At all. She wouldn't do anything scandalous like that. She would just pull a mean prank on Dante and that would be the end of it. Had her feelings for this boy become so strong that kissing another dude just to get back at him was her response? Was her anger clouding her judgment _that _much?

Michael crossed his arms over his chest. "I could laugh. I could really just fall out in a guffaw. The might warrior Angie Prietto resorting to something…like…that?" Michael near trailed off as something very frightening came to his mind. No way, it couldn't be. It was a stretch that he hoped he was dead wrong on, but…

He looked over at her. "Hey, I gotta go. I'll see you later." He said as he rushed out the diner.

"Wait!" Angie said as she almost fell out of the seat trying to keep up with him. She, to this day, didn't know why she tried to keep up with a track star. Fixing herself up from her almost epic fail, Angie brushed herself off. Just when she was just about to sit back down, something caught her eye.

A tall blond with a curvaceous body walked into the diner. The same blonde that Angie saw kissing Dante. Ginger.

But wait, what happened to Dante, Lyle, and Wyatt? She last saw her with them. Trying to keep her temper down to where she wouldn't hurt the clueless girl, Angie walked over to the girl wearing a yellow sundress and white sweater vest. Grasping her hips with her hands to keep her from pummeling the ditz, Angie nearly growled out her question.

"Where are the guys?" She asked as nicely as she could without screaming.

Ginger looked up at Angie with a confused look on her face. "You mean your friends? How should I know?" Ginger said with her dimwitted demeanor.

Angie arched an annoyed brow. "What's that supposed to mean. You were with them last night." Angie corrected her as her patience grew all the thinner.

Ginger stood to stand over Angie. "Are you implying that I'm some kind of whore? Last I checked, _you _where the one everyone always saw hanging with three guys, not me." She turned and stormed out of the diner. It took every ounce of restraint not to take the girl by her hair and pummel her face in. She would try this one more time.

Following her out of the diner, Angie grabbed the heifer by her shoulder and spun her around to where she would face her. "Look, neuron. I'm not trying to _imply_ anything; that's not my style. If you're a whore I'll tell you you're a whore. I just asked have you seen Lyle, Dante and Wyatt." She commanded, keeping a firm grip on the girls shoulder.

She snatched herself away from her. "For the last time, I haven't seen them okay? What's with you today?"

What's with _her? _"You where the one who kissed Dante and you're asking _me_ what's wrong?" She finally yelled in anger and hurt, that one who used to be her friend would betray her like this. Ever since high school they had been on bad terms, but never like this.

Ginger screwed her face up. "Uh, no. Dante's hot and all but I already have a potential boyfriend. Dante's cool and all, but I'm into Wyatt."

Angie's jaw could have dropped to the floor if she where a cartoon. "Really? And those Natalie know about this?" Angie prodded.

"No! And don't you dare tell her! I don't need to be called a whore by both you and her." She pleaded.

Angie's facial expressions softened from her scowl as her flaring emotions cooled down. "I'm not calling you a whore Ginger. I just wanted to know where the guys where. Thanks." Angie said as she turned to go back into the Diner to leave Ginger alone.

What was happening? Why didn't Ginger remember being with Dante and the others? Why did Michael rush off like he did? Was he that upset with her?

Before she could bombard herself with any more questions, her phone began to vibrate. Taking it out, she saw that there was a text from Joaquin.

_Hey, Ang. You want believe what I found. High-tail it back home, ASAP._

Angie stuffed her phone back into her pocket and headed home. Whatever was going was seriously weird. Whatever Joaquin found may shed some light on this case.


	7. Part 2: Chapter 5

Joaquin examined the piece of seemingly scrap metal at his laptop that bore what could possibly a terrifying truth in his hands. Sarah Ragas: a woman whose genius made Max look like a crusty special Ed student in comparison. Who, as everyone knew, was the true face behind Conqueror of All Worlds.

Before his thoughts could carry him into this revelation any further, Angie came storming into his room. Out of breath and drenched in sweat, she looked like she had just run a 10k.

"Jeez, Angie. I when I told you to hightail it I meant get in your car." Joaquin said with a snide grin on his face.

Angie face palmed herself as she thought of what she could have done to avoid looking and smelling like a high school full backer. "Ohhh. Well- whatever, what was the news you were talking about?" She nearly snapped; half at Joaquin's snide remarks and half at her own _impulsiveness. _Crap, Dante was having more of an affect on her than she thought.

Joaquin handed her the piece of scrap metal from his hand. Angie took it and began to analyze it. "Sarah Ragas? What's Michael's older sister's name doing on this thing?"

Joaquin gave her a dull stare. "Uh, duh. Maybe because she owns it?" Angie gave him an punch to the arm. "Don't get smart with me."

Joaquin rubbed his arm while mumbling "Don't get stupid with me." "What?" Angie egged on. "Nothing. Anyway, what do you think about this?"

She shrugged her shoulders as she sat on the couch next to his desk. "I don't know. What did you find?"

Joaquin turned to face her. "Here's what's up. Sarah Ragas was the one who originated Conqueror of all Worlds. She created the story and the characters while Max simply provided the funding and computer sciences. After the game was perfected, Max hijacked her ideas and made billions off the game, while leaving her none. It's so devilish it's almost awesome. Still pretty messed up though."

Angie didn't really find anything awesome about this. If all this is true, then that means that the Leak was created by Michael's older sister. If that in turn was true…."Do you think Sarah tried to kill us?" She whispered to her younger brother.

Joaquin tsked at her. "Oh, sis. You're missing the bigger point of it all. That Leak was a MonstraSnouzer. It can latch on to even an hint of scent faster than I could a bowl of ice cream. That thing must have smelled _Max _on you guys…for whatever reason." He concluded.

As annoyingly smart as Joaquin was, something still didn't add up. "Okay Lord Omniscient, where exactly would that thing get Max's scent from in the first place?"

Joaquin waved his hand dismissively. "Later. You know what? I'll tell you if you tell me how Max's scent got on you."

Angie gave him a dark glare that let him know that he'd better watch what the hell he was implying. Knowing this, Joaquin threw his hands in the air defensively. "Hold up, Angie! I'm not saying you and Max _did _anything, I'm just wondering where the smell came from."

Angie wasn't gonna tell Joaquin that the four of them hosted a party at Max's house. The little squirt in him would be all to tempted to snitch on them to Max.

"We were at Max's house." She finally said. "Doing what?" Joaquin edged on.

"Planning for another Leak attack. You see how well that turned out." Angie said. It wasn't a complete lie, they were talking about Leaks when Philbert decided to skate off of Max's huge staircase.

"Now, are we going to just sit here or should we go tell the guys?"

A dark gaze fell on Joaquin's normally carefree countenance. "When I see Dante, I can't promise that won't fight him over this crap between you two."

"You can do with him whatever you want after this crap is settled with." Angie smirked at him.

The two left the house and went back to Baer's to retrieve Angie's car.


	8. Part 3: Chapter 1

Dante couldn't breathe. This snake-woman was constricting him with her extra long tail and taunting him while doing so. She laughed mockingly as he tried helplessly to gasp for air. "Stupid boy! What makes you think a _human_could ever best a beast like me?"

Date wanted to rip this reptilian bitch a new one. If only he had his Skull Cracker; he'd make her realize the value of its name. Hell, he'd settle for having his hands free. _Hold up, why am I getting so angry? Angie whacks me around all the time. _Maybe it was because this _thing _wasn't a human woman and his honor code to never hit a woman didn't really apply to it.

Or maybe it was because, somewhere in his sad little mind, Angie smacking him around was his thirsty ass being glad that he had her attention for a moment. That her eyes where on him, even if they where filled with annoyance. _Man, I'm one pretty messed up dude. _Hs train of thought was vanquished and replaced with sheer rage when Vice Principal Asps used her gigantic tail to deliver a thunderous slap to his face. One that busted his lip open and nearly broke his jaw.

He yanked himself forward; this only made things worse as he almost broke his wrist in the process. "Damn it!" He swore as he desperately wanted to comfort his wrist.

The lizard woman laughed at him again. "Don't be foolish. These chains are made from Earth-metal named titanium. You won't be able to brake free with brute force."

Okay, that was pretty informative. Dante just stared at her until he could find something that would make her talk even more given she apparently had a slight case of diarrhea at the mouth. "Whatever. How the hell did we get here anyway?"

She smirked. "Don't you remember? One of my minions knocked you out."

Now it was time for Dante to turn on the old repulsive charm. "No shit, bitch. I meant how the hell are we _here_; in a perfectly fine warehouse when just a few minutes ago it was thrown to crap?"

Asps jerked his chin towards her, which only worsened the pain in his jaw to the point where he was bleeding from the mouth. "You listen to me you smelly sack of shit. I won't allow you to disrespect me in this way."

Lyle finally chimed in after regaining consciousness from being knocked out by Asps. "Yeah, how where you able to fix this place up in like thirty minutes?"

She tsked at them, clearly mocking their intelligence. "You pack of stupid fools. It was a special form of illusionary magik. It allows the user to completely alter another's perception of their surrounding area. Unfortunately, it was made by that worthless **Ochi **who only made magik that would make a place look either incredibly filthy or sparkling clean. We took what we could get."

That explained everything! Well, almost, "Hey, Vice Principal Ass. Can this magik make copies of other people?" Lyle asked the same question Dante was a bout to.

Judging from her reaction, Dante was almost glad he didn't ask as Asps slapped Lyle with a blow that almost rivaled the one Dante got before. "Incoherence is such an annoyance. However, I will say that the magik is capable of mimicking the existence of anyone of whom you've been in contact with from the past twenty four hours. A little tweak we added to it."

Crap she could talk. Why would _anyone, _especially Maldark put her in charge of holding someone when she would just tell the person how to get out with the right words? If only he could get out of these handcuffs.

Asps' phone rang. While he couldn't exactly hear the voice on the other side, he could assume that from the reverent fear in her voice when addressing them, that they where her superior's. She slid them a disgusted gaze before she slithered away in the opposite direction and exited the warehouse.

Dante slid his eyes to the floor as he realized snake lady left her keys…

* * *

"Yes, sir." Asps answered her Master. "When I let them go. They will most certainly lead us to the Conqueror."

"_Good." _The deep voice answered her. "_Once we have the True Conqueror of All Worlds, everything will fall into place." _

"Yes, sir." She answered in a yet again reverent tone. She hung up the phone and slithered her way back into the HQ. To her delight, Dante and Lyle where gone. She knew that if she played dumb they would be molded like clay in her hands. Now, all they needed to do was find the Conqueror.

* * *

Dante and Lyle drove over to Angie's house and texted everyone to be there for the really important news. Maybe this would mend Dante and Angie's relationship, if even a little.

Dante exited the car while Lyle was doing the regular procedures and knocked on Angie's door. When the door opened, it was Joaquin. Before Dante could even say "hey" to Angie's little brother, he punched him square in the nose.


End file.
